Battling for the Galaxy
by Commander 'Dash' 228
Summary: [Terrible at summaries] Sian, a High Admiral in the Imperial Fleet, commands a fleet of 8 Star Destroyers. After his friend, Anthony Arden, goes MIA above Anexes, Sian is on a search to locate him. Chapter 1 revised. Chapter 8 up. Please read and review
1. Chapter 1: Anexes

**This is my revisement of Chapter one. Hope you like it better than the first.**

High Admiral Sian Labrith stood on the deck of his Star Destroyer II, _The Velocity II_, his arms crossed, staring ahead out into Anexes' space. All of his other Admirals were off duty for the time being, except for his second-in-command, Admiral Anthony Arden of the fastest Star Destroyer in the galaxy, _The Stallion_. Although not visible from his vantage point, _The Stallion_ was on _Velocity II's_ left, idle, the Star Destroyer creeping extremely slowly through space with _Velocity II_.

It was strange to Sian though, that Rebel activity in the galaxy was at an all time low. There was no way that the Rebellion had been defeated, but it's not like they need to be attacking Anexes anyway. The quiet spooked him, and everything thing around him _was_ quiet; even the crewmen had fallen silent. For a moment, Sian wished for a Rebel attack to stir things up a bit, to break the eerie silence.

Sian, not wishing to be silent any longer, swirled around and left for his private quarters to speak with Arden, who at the moment, was probably playing some sort of betting game with his second-in-command on board _Stallion_. On his way to his quarters, Sian obtained a strange, eerie feeling that something terrible was about to occur. He brushed it away without a second thought on the matter.

_FOOP._ The door to his quarters slid open quickly, revealing a tidy room consisting of a comfortable bed, a very large desk, a COM radio and a view of the starboard side of _The Velocity II._ Not to mention his own personal laser cannon for when he was unable to make it to the bridge and command the ship. He had yet to use it.

Now standing over the COM radio, he picked up the transmitter. "Admiral Arden, do you copy?"

Immediately, Arden's deep voice responded him, "I copy Admiral Sian. What can I do for you?"

Sian cleared his throat and took a seat near his desk. "Nothing much. The silence is starting to creep me out," he stated friendly. "I just needed to talk to a friend," he added with a smile.

Arden chuckled at the mere thought of his life long friend, his superior officer, wishing to chat with him while drifiting over a planet. "Sure thing Sian. I know what you mean. It's a ghost town over here too. Lyle didn't even want to bet on some sport with me and you know how he is with gambling."

It was true. Kelly Lyle, second-in-command of _The Stallion_ loved to gamble, mostly because he won all the time. His luck astounded some and frustrated others, which included Sian and all of the other Admirals in the fleet, aside from Arden ofcourse. He gambled almost as much as Lyle, without the amazing luck. Sian himself was a terrible gambler, but a master tactician. Somehow, the two didn't seem to mix for him.

"I see. It's very eerie on my own bridge. Everyone has stopped talking and the computers even seemed to be quiet, though I knew they weren't."

There was a long pause as Arden spoke to Lyle, who had just entered the room. "Sorry about that. Lyle's here. Says he wants to make a wager with you."

Sian sighed, but he held an amused smile. "Alright, let 'em at me."

In a flash, Lyle had taken over the COM radio. "Alright Admiral Sian, I'll bet you ten thousand credits that all day today, we won't see a blink of action, or even an enemy ship. Whaddaya say?"

"You're on, Lyle. But don't get mad at me if any Rebels decide to come bumping along," Sian replied, walking over to the laser cannon and sitting in its seat.

Lyle scoffed. "You wish that would happen, but you know it won't."

Sian didn't want to believe that, but it was true. He honestly didn't expect even an X-wing to appear. Ever since the destruction of the Death Star, the Empire had been madly chasing the Rebels throughout the galaxy, hell-bent on their annihilation. But for a good year now, the Rebel leaders had kept themselves hidden from the Empire's attempts at their deaths. Then something caught Sian's eye after two minutes of silence from Arden and Lyle.

"My god... I've got three MC-80s hyperspacing in! Get to your stations you two, Sian over and out." With the final sentance, Sian jumped up and stormed out of his quarters, the alarm in the ship now blaring through the halls. Men rushed past crazily to man their guns.

Bursting into the bridge, there was a hive of activity that made Sian feel more relaxed. An Ensign approached him. "Sir, we've picked up three MC-80 Mon Calamari cruisers on our starboard side, ten corvettes on our port side and a massive array of fighters heading straight for us at our bow consisting of X-wings, B-wings and A-wing," he reported quickly.

"Understood, open the hangar bay doors and have our fighters engage theirs. Focus all fire on the corvettes until the MC-80s are in range, but keep pulling away from them, always towards the corvettes. We can take them easily, but the three MC-80s will tear us to shreds." The MC-80s were still quite a ways off, the fighters and bombers had closed the gap dangerously and the corvettes were now making their way towards _Velocity II._

In a matter of seconds, swarms of TIE fighters from both Star Destroyers bolted past _Velocity II's_ bridge to engage the Rebel fighters. _Stallion_ rushed past _Velocity II_ with the help of its six engines, three over the standard, straight at the corvettes. _Velocity II_ was right behind her, the starboard now to the fighters and the stern to the MC-80s that had begun moving up.

According to the battle map, the TIEs had begun to blow up the B-wings, but the X and A-wings had stayed the course towards _Velocity II and The Stallion. _ "Their tactic troubles me, Admiral Arden. They're sending their fighters to ultimate doom against our anti-fighter lasers, but they're also letting their bombers be destroyed, therefore nullifying their uses for their fighters. Theres something going on here."

Arden didn't respond, but Sian knew he was pondering the same thing.

"Sir! We're getting a transmition from the Rebel MC-80s," a young crewmen reported.

"I'll allow it." Sian approached the hologram of a Rebel Fleet Admiral, his arms behind his back. He looked much like himself.

"This is the MC-80 Mon Calamari cruiser _Liberation_. Surrender your ships or be destroyed!" The young Admiral stated boldly.

Sian seemed to consider it for a moment, and then shut off the hologram. "Denied," he muttered.

_**BOOM**_. An explosion from _The Stallion_ made a deafening explosion, and rocked _The Velocity II_. The bombers had broken through; Three out of six of _Stallion's_ engines were destroyed. "GET THOSE BOMBERS!" Sian commanded as anti-fighter lasers attempted to destroy the B-wings.

"Admiral Sian, where the hell did our TIEs go?" Arden questioned, fear obvious in his voice.

"I don't know, Admiral. Just hold tight, and keep the course." Arden did as he was told, staying the course against the approaching corvettes. "Oh my god. The bombers are coming around for another pass at his engines," Sian said aloud. "Take them out!"

It was to late. The B-wings torpedos smashed into _The Stallion's_ engines, knocking out the remaining three, rendering motion for the ship impossible. This, however, did not stop _The Stallion_ from destroying three out of the ten passing corvettes. _Velocity II_ destroyed five.

"Turn this ship around, towards the fighters." Sian wanted to know why his TIEs had suddenly been destroyed. When he saw, his mouth hung open. Twenty Corellian corvettes had entered the system and had torn through the TIEs.

"Admiral Sian, get out of here! Theres nothing you can do now. If you stay, we'll both die! Atleast if you escape, you can keep the fleet going!" Arden's voice came in on the COM station next to him.

"Arden..." He whispered. "I can't leave you here to die."

"Please don't argue with me sir, just please get our of here while there is still any escape left to make." Arden replied sternly.

"Understood," Sian said almost unaudible. "Crew, set your hyperspace coordinates for Coruscant and call the rest of the fleet in from vacation."

Arden spoke again. "Thank you Sian. Good luck."

Sian fought back tears, but laughed slightly. "Ya know... I think that ship is cursed. I'm so sorry... so, so sorry."

"Don't be. Just get out of here."

Sian didn't respond back; he only fell backwards and inhaled deeply. He couldn't see _The Stallion_ any longer from their vantage point. In seconds, the stars seemed to stretch as _The Velocity II_ entered hyperspace, leaving _The Stallion_, the fastest Star Destroyer in the galaxy and Admiral Anthony "Tony" Arden, High Admiral Sian's best friend, to the fate of the Rebel Alliance.


	2. Chapter 2: One week earlier

One week earlier...

"Arden! Hey man! How ya doing," Sian exclaimed at the sight of his life-long friend in the cantina on Coruscant.

"Sian," Arden replied, obviously not as excited about this reunion as Sian was. "I'm fine." Arden was exactly as Sian had remembered; the same slick, long, black hair and the tall stature, standing over Sian by half a foot.

Sian, however, had changed a bit. He had lost his messy, short brown hair, and had obtained a carefully combed head of hair. His standing stance was much different, standing with his arms behind his back instead of slouching, with his arms tucked into his pockets. On his Imperial uniform, instead of no insignia, he now held the insignia of a Fleet Admiral. "Good to hear, my old friend," Sian announced gleefully, wraping an arm around his friend's shoulder. Arden shook it off without much hesitation.

"Not in the mood right now, Sian." Arden leaned back over the counter of the bar, holding his drink tightly in his large right hand.

"What's wrong, Arden?" Sian leaned over the counter as well, looking at the side of Arden's now very pale, skinny face. He looked drunk.

Arden sighed loudly, taking a sip of his drink. "The Rebellion took over Corellia yesterday."

Sian interrupted before he went any further, "Yes, I know. I was in the command of the Star Destroyer fleet above Corellia. We tried the best we could t-" Arden cut him off.

"My family was on that planet, Sian. I just lost my family to the mercy of the Rebels. THAT is what's wrong with me," Arden said, his voice rising for a yell. He then turned to face Sian. "And YOU and your damn fleet retreated from a couple squadrons of X-Wings."

"There was more to it than that,..." Sian replied softly. "Those were just the scouts. If we had stayed, we would have been attacked by more than half of the entire Rebellion fleet. If we had stayed," he repeated, "I would have been killed, along with my fleet. I had no choice but to retreat."

Arden scoffed, and turned away. All at once, his shoulders sunk in defeat and he turned to face Sian once again. "I have come to a decision, Sian. Up until now, I have stayed neutral in this Galactic Conflict. After yesterday's outcome, I have decided to join the Imperial Fleet." He had look pained in saying this.

Sian grinned. "Wonderful. Welcome to the fleet, Admiral Arden."

Arden widened his eyes. "That quick, huh? Aren't we supposed to contact your superior?"

"Ah, but that is exactly what I am going to do. I'll contact Admiral Piett this evening and ask for your recruitment," Sian said, extending his hand out to Arden. Arden took it. "Once again, welcome to the fleet, Admiral Arden."


	3. Chapter 3: The Commandeering

Later that night, Arden traveled with Sian to his Star Destroyer, _The Velocity_ and there, they contacted Admiral Piett. It was a short conversation, with nothing but the basics for Arden's recruitment into the Empire and Sian's Imperial Fleet. On the spot, Sian appointed Arden as his second in command if anything were to happen to him and his ship.

"Admiral Arden," Sian said on the bride of _The Velocity_. "It is my honor to appoint you to the fastest Star Destroyer in the fleet, _The Stallion_. The former Captain of the ship, Admiral Nekkly, was killed in action yesterday above Corellia," Sian paused, and took a deep breath. "With it's two extra engines, it easily outruns my ship and most other Star Destroyers in all of the Imperial Fleet. Use it well, and welcome to the Fleet. Allow me to escort you to your ship, and we'll go on our way." He paused for a moment as an Ensign approached him. "Escuse me one moment, Admiral." Sian followed the Ensign to his station, while Arden stared out of the bridge window. A few moments later, Sian came walking back, smiling. "Shall we go then?"

As Arden and Sian strolled to the shuttle to take them to _The Stallion,_ Arden stopped near the Hangar. "Sian, where are we going after I get on _The Stallion?_"

Sian grinned and put a hand on Arden's taller shoulder. "To Corellia, my old friend. After our little talk with Piett, I obtained a transmission from Moff Jerjerrod explaining for us to take the fleet to Corellia, and hold Corellian space until the ground force arrives. We need to be there before tomorrow, so let's get moving, shall we?"

The Hangar Bay doors opened as they neared them, and there was the Lambda Shuttle, waiting for their boarding. Sian walked up the ramp with Arden closely behind, and the ramp shut. The two found themselves a seat near the cockpit, and awaited their transfer to _The Stallion_. Soon, the shuttle shuttered and lifted off the Hangar floor and flew slowly out.

It was a short and silent ride to _The Stallion_. As the shuttle landed inside, a Tie-fighter squadron flew out. "Where are those Ties headed to," Sian asked the shuttle pilot.

"Inspection, sir," the pilot answered. "We had a report of _The Momentum_ spotting an X-wing squadron off it's bow. At the moment, _The Momentum's_ Hangar is closed off due to repairs from yesterdays battle, as you already know, sir."

Sian nodded, and the two men stood up as the ramp of the shuttle opened, allowing them access to _The Stallion_. Sian led Arden through the now familiar structure of the Star Destroyer to the bridge. Once there, Sian and Arden were met with saluting crewmen. Sian cleared his throat, stepped forward and put his hands behind his back. "Men, allow me to introduce you to your new Admiral of this ship, Admiral Arden." All at once, the salutes shifted from Sian to Arden.

Arden stared back, and then suddenly returned the salute. Once his salute dropped, the crewmen returned to their work. Sian leaned close to Arden's ear. "I'm sure you and your men will get along well," he whispered, smiling.

Arden nodded and walked forward, inspecting the bridge. Sian grabbed him by his shoulder. "Get used to your surroundings quickly. We'll be leaving here very shortly." Sian saluted his friend, and left the bridge.

Arden continued to walk forward, inspecting everything around him. Within moments, a transmission from _The Momentum_ was coming in. "This is Admiral Hassan of _The Momentum._ Thank you for the Tie-fighter inspection. Nothing was found. They're on their way back now."

Arden answered back in his deep voice that reminded himself of Lord Vader, whom he had never met, but had heard his voice once before. "This is Admiral Arden of _The Stallion._ It was no problem at all."

Hassan immediatly responded, his voice sounding old, but strong, "Admiral Arden? You are the new Admiral to our fleet? Well, let me be the first of the fleet to welcome you to High Admiral Sian's Star Destroyer fleet."

Arden did not respond. He was busy checking over the number of ships in the fleet. _Eight Star Destroyers..._ he thought. _The Stallion, The Momentum, The Velocity, The Tyranny, The Kleeko, The Yanker, The Oppulant, and The Wrangler._ Soon, another transmission came in, this time from _The Velocity_. It was Sian. "Admiral Arden, get ready to set your courses to Corellia."

"Yes, High Admiral Sian." He turned his attention to his crew. "Plot hyperspace courses for Corellia." In his mind, Arden was bottling in his anger for revenge and the liberation of Corellia back to the Empire.


	4. Chapter 4:The Battle & the Introductions

**Here comes a long chapter. :) Thanks for everyone whos been reading so far.**

As the Star Destroyer fleet entered Corellian space, High Admiral Sian, aboard _The Velocity_, assessed the situation. Two corvettes, two Mon Calamari cruisers and ten squadrons of X-wings held the Corellian space. Sian watched as the X-wing squadrons turned towards the threat of the eight Star Destroyers that had entered the system. At first, it had looked as if the small fleet was going to attack, but suddenly, the X-wings turned around as the four other ships turned away from Sian's fleet. "All Star Destroyers, move forward at full velocity! Release your Tie-fighters and destroy those Rebel scum!"

"This is _The Oppulant_. We're opening fire now." Sian watched as _The Oppulant _pulled ahead of _The Velocity_, all of it's ion cannon batteries firing. Suddenly, _The Stallion_ bolted past _The Oppulant_ on the other side, approaching the Rebel fleet very quickly. Admiral Arden's Ties were pulling ahead of _The Stallion_ and started firing on the X-wings. One by one, the five ship squadrons were decimated by the nine ship squadrons.

"High Admiral Sian, this is Admiral Hassan of _The Momentum_. I have begun to commense fire on the Mon Calamari ships. Please fire all of you ion cannon batteries on the Mon Calamari cruisers when you have gotten into firing range."

"Admiral Hassan, I have commensed fire on the Mon Calamari cruisers for you. Please fire on the corvettes before Admiral Arden's fighters are wiped out."

"High Admiral Sian, I have already destroyed the corvettes." It was Arden. "My bombers have destroyed the engines of the lead Mon Calamari cruiser. The shields of the lagging Mon Calamari cruiser are down, and it's begun to break apart. We've won, sir!"

Sian stared at Arden's wonderful progress, both with envy and jealousy. Soon, with the combined power of the four lead Star Destroyers (_The Stallion, the Momentum, The Oppulant, and The Velocity_) the two shieldless Mon Calamari cruisers were destroyed. Sian stared at the burning wreckage of the cruisers, grinning. "All Admirals, report to my ship immediately," he said, the smile obvious in his voice.

Within ten minutes, the other seven Admirals were on his bridge, standing in a line in front of their High Admiral. "Admiral Arden of _The Stallion_ would you please step forward." Arden stepped forward, his face seeming to fill with his old lightly tan color. "I don't believe I've properly introduced you to rest of your fleet." Sian turned away from Arden to look back at the other six Admirals of his fleet. "Step forward, down the line, starting with you, Admiral Hassan."

A short, chubby, rosy red cheeked man stepped extending his hand to the much taller Arden. "Admiral Hassan, of _The Momentum_. I believe we had a short conversation a few hours ago." Arden nodded. Admiral Hassan stepped back.

Next in line was a very tall, skinny black man, who stood over Arden by atleast three inches. He also extended his hand. "Admiral Laghn of _The Wrangler_. Pleased to meet you, Admiral Arden." Arden returned the handshake.

Then, came forward a man of about Sian's stature, with a thick stubble. "Admiral Gartrich of _The Oppulant_. Good work out there today, Admiral Arden." Arden smiled at the man, shaking his hand.

Next, was another man about Sian's height, fat with a bald head. "Admiral Jenkins of _The Yanker_." He quickly shook hands with Arden and stepped back.

Afterwards came an old, skinny faced man, much taller than Arden and Laghn. _My god, he must be around 7 feet tall._ "Admiral Kahn of _The Tyranny_," came a sofisticated voice. He shook hands with Arden, smiled a forced smile and stepped back.

Finally, came a woman with long black hair and a 'girl-next-door' kind of look. "Admiral Kate Ulick of _The Kleeko_. Very pleased to meet you, Admiral Arden." She shook his hand lightly, flashing a pretty smile. Arden returned the handshake and smile as she stepped backwards to rejoin the line.

"Very nice to meet all out you," Arden said, standing up straight, smiling at the six other Admirals in front of him.

Sian cleared his throat, putting his hands behind his back. "I'm sure the six of you saw Admiral Arden's impressive actions against the Rebel fleet today. Not only did I bring you here to meet Admiral Anthony Arden, but to congratulate him and take pride in your new addition to our family. Unfortunately, you gain something good, you lose something good." Sian paused for a moment. "I am of course referring to Admiral Nekkly, our now deceased second-in-command and old Admiral of _The Stallion_. Although we gained a great ally, none shall ever replace Admiral Nekkly's will and courageous actions."

Sian turned towards Arden. "I am glad to have you in our fleet, and I'm sure we shall have more battles like these won much quicker thanks to your actions." Arden smiled gleefully at him. "As a reward, I shall be adding one more extra engine to _The Stallion_, and as for the rest of you, after tomorrows ground assault is won, you may have the week off to spend with your friends and family. I'll have more information for you tomorrow after the ground assault is successful."

Admiral Gatrich cleared his throat, and stepped forward. Sian stared at him with his friendly eyes. "High Admiral Sian. Why add one more engine to _The Stallion_? Why not add it to your own ship?"

Sian grinned. "Because, Admiral Gatrich, after tomorrow, this will no longer be my flagship. After tomorrow, I will be purchasing a Star Destroyer II. Once all of you leave, I will be annoucing this to my crew so they will be prepared for the transfer in two days."

Admiral Jenkins stepped forward in protest. "High Admiral Sian, why would you do this? Usually, you are the one who never participates in the battles. We are the ones who usually pull ahead and win the day."

Sian's grin dropped into a frown, but his eyes still contained their friendliness. "Admiral Jenkins, you have no need to worry. When I obtain my new flagship, there will be no more of me lagging behind. My ship will be faster than all of yours, save for _The Stallion_. Not to mention, I'll be sporting much more firepower than all of your ships." Sian paused, and saluted the Admirals. "You are all dismissed."

An hour later, Sian found himself in his quarters. He was once again checking over the battleplans for tomorrows ground assault, which he would have to provide AT-STs and all of his stormtroopers. Soon, a knock was heard on his door. "Come in, Corporal." Sian turned around to watch Corporal Evan Sachine, a stormtrooper on his ship he had bonded with entered his quarters.

"High Admiral Sian." Evan saluted him. His eyes stared at Sian's, trying to read what he was thinking.

"Evan," Sian stated, letting him know that it was fine to call him by his informal name for now. " Welcome. I'm glad I was able to catch you before you went to sleep for tomorrows assault." Sian stood up, returned the salute, and hugged his old friend. Evan returned the hug, patting the slightly taller Sian on the back. "So, are you going to be ready for tomorrow," Sian asked when their friendly embrace ended.

"I hope so, Sian. I really do. Why is that I have to go? Why do any of us have to go," Evan asked, the wonder clear in his sturdy voice.

"Evan, it's like I told you and the rest of the stormtroopers earlier. The ground assault is going to have a shortage of AT-STs and infantry. I must supply these important units for the battle tomorrow," Sian replied, gesturing for Evan to sit down.

"I see. Sian, I'm afraid. All of us are. We've heard rumors that Corellia is heavily defended against our inevitable retake of Corellia." Evan whiped his forehead. "I just think that, if you have to supply troops for the battle, that all of your ships should. It will increase our numbers and our probability of a victory!"

Sian waved away his plea. "Evan, Moff Jerjerrod requested that one of the ships in the fleet to volunteer their ground force to aid in their assault on Corellia. I was the only one willing to lose my ground force for the benefit of the Empire."

Evan sighed. "I understand Sian. If I come back, I'll tell you all about it then," he said, his voice sad and quiet.

Sian frowned as Evan stood up. Sian embraced Evan in another friendly hug, this time much harder. He heard Evan's soft sobs. Without knowing, Sian was sobbing softly too. Whiping away the tears as the embrace ended, Sian spoke. "You shouldn't be a stormtrooper," he joked with a smile.

Evan returned the smile, the tears resting in his eye sockets. "Goodbye Sian. Like I said, if I come back, I'll tell you all about it." With that statement, Corporal Evan Sachine saluted High Admiral Sian Labrith, turned away and walked out the door.


	5. Chapter 5: The Briefing

The following morning, Sian awoke to SF-842, the lead storm trooper for the ground assault, calling him over the COM. "Sir, this is SF-842. We are awaiting your arrival to the Hangar Bay to oversee our leave."

Sian responded the moment he stood up. "I'll be down in a few moments." Sian proceeded to change into his High Admiral uniform, and soon was holding his cap. Sian, suddenly overcome by guilt for sending his men out there to die on Corellia, dropped the hat and sat on his bunk once more. Across the room, he looked in the mirror. In it, sat a glum looking man of 20, about to explain to his ground force on his ship that they were all going to die. He stood up, and strolled to the mirror, picking his hat up on the way. Once there, Sian stared at himself, holding his cap. Sian put his cap on, and then asked himself, "Am I really doing this? Am I seriously going to throw my men out, including Evan?" Sian nodded, stood up straight, and made his commanding face.

As Sian briskly walked through _Velocity's_ corridors, twice he had to stop to keep himself from vomiting. He did not want to lose his men, but he wanted that planet recaptured, for his sake and Arden's. Once outside the Hangar doors, Sian took a few deep breaths, shuddered, and opened the doors.

Inside, Sian stepped up on a platform, and was greeted with salutes from three-hundred storm troopers plus fifty-two AT-ST pilots. Sian stood up straight, put his hands behind his back and cleared his throat. "Men, today is the day that all of your individual training comes into play. Reports from our spies on planet suggest more than five-hundred Rebel soldiers plus their vehicles are on planet."

"After going over the battle schematics myself, I have learned that on-planet, a shield generator lies in wait. Once the shield generator is down, this entire Star Destroyer fleet is going to commence fire on areas where a targeting beacon has been placed. In other words, you storm troopers are to be set with the task of placing these beacons where there are points of interest to be destroyed by the fleet." Sian paused for a moment, thinking. "You will be accompanied by twelve AT-AT walkers, fifteen other squadrons of AT-ST walkers and ten squads of tie maulers. AT-ST pilots, your task is to cover the AT-ATs as you make your way towards the shield generator."

Suddenly, a hand raised in the crowd. It was SF-842 "Sir, how are we three-hundred men supposed to survive long enough until the slow moving AT-ATs moving in on the shield generator?"

"Simple, trooper; you and your men are to be transported inside the AT-ATs until the shield generator is destroyed. That means twenty five troops to each AT-AT."

Sian was about to continue when he was interrupted by a call from the bridge. "High Admiral Sian, a lone Star Destroyer has entered the system. They are requesting for you."

Sian looked back at his men, standing at attention. "Unfortunately, I have no time to take anymore questions, but your debriefing is over." Sian saluted the men who were about to give their lives for the good of the Empire; they saluted back, every single one of them.

Sian almost ran to the bridge, where a female Ensign informed him that General Ivohan was awaiting for him to release his transports to stay near his ship, _The Persecutor_. "Of course General; they are en route now." Sian stated as he watched several transports leave his ship, heading towards _Persecutor_.

"Very good. I will speak to you once this battle is over, High Admiral Sian." Ivohan said.

_Maybe_. Sian thought, his mind a race of words and emotions. _Maybe._


	6. Chapter 6: The Battle for Corellia

Corporal Evan Sachine stood at attention as General Ivohan, who would be leading this assault, debriefed him and the other soldiers, including 300 storm troopers, 50 TIE mauler pilots, 84 AT-ST pilots and 36 AT-AT pilots. (2 pilots per AT-ST, 3 pilots AT-AT, 1 pilot TIE mauler) Evan barely listened; he already knew what to do, plus his mind was a mix of emotions. The young Corporal shuddered at the thought of death on Corellia. He had been born there, and dying there was the last thing he wanted.

SF-842, the leader of the storm troopers walked up the steps towards General Ivohan when he was acknowlaged. He shook hands with Ivohan as the General stepped backwards. With SF-842's rise up, Sachine broke his train of thought to listen to his commanding officer of three years.

"Men, I have fought with many of you for over a decade, and some of you for only a few years," he started, his helmet off and his brown face sweating. "Unfortunately, this may be my last battle with some of you, but I am driven to make it a battle worth remembering with you all. These fifteen years of my life have been filled with happiness, sadness, loss, gain and best of all, all of you." SF-842 paused for a moment to collect himself.

"Without all of you by my side, my morale for battle would be none. I would have quit the Imperial Army years ago if it hadn't of been for all of you, and your loyalty and friendship. So, fight with me, men, one last time!" SF-842 raised both of his arms, and the entire hangar bay of _The Persecutor_ filled with applause and cheers. Evan was still silent.

General Ivohan stepped forward, his hands clapping together, a small smile on his face. "Thank you, SF-842 for that heartwarming speech. All of you, prepare for transfer to Corellia. Dismissed." The hangar became very, very noisy then, with the steps of soldiers heading towards their drop ships. The _clank clank clank_ of the pilots heading up their ramps to their vehicles, plus of the soldiers following the AT-AT pilots to gain entrance to them hurt Evan's ears greatly, but once inside the AT-AT, the sound was drowned out completely.

Evan went to a corner of the AT-ATs belly, and sat down, his blaster across his chest and his legs splayed out in front of him with his helmet off. The other 24 storm troopers in the belly sat down as well, spreading around in the belly.

In a few moments, the entire AT-AT shuddered as the dropship lifted up and exited the hangar, heading towards Corellia.

"All troops, hold on tight. Once we land and start walking, the ride will be increadibly bumpy down there." An AT-AT pilot announced over the COM. Evan considered this, and suddenly put his helmet back on.

_**THUMP.**_They'd landed. A few seconds after the first thump, another followed it, and after that, the monster of a mechanism began walking. Evan stayed in his corner, but he was much more alert now, and did his best to hold himself steady. The commanding officer in the AT-AT, XF-129, stood up and held himself steady near the button that, when pressed, would open the belly of the AT-AT, allowing the 25 storm troopers inside to repel out.

_Pew pew pew!_ The AT-AT was firing at something. Suddenly, the AT-AT rocked heavily; something had shot back at them with amazing force. Whatever it was, the AT-AT had destroyed it already, because the AT-AT had stopped rocking. For three minutes, the AT-AT held still, but laser fire outside was easily heard. The AT-STs and TIE maulers must be clearing the way for the AT-ATs.

"All storm troopers, pile out!" The AT-AT pilot announced, and XF-129 smashed the button, opening the belly of the AT-AT.

"Go go go," he commanded. "Get yourselves out there!" Evan jumped up from his position, grabbing the rope that would repel the storm troopers outside, inching down the rope to the ground far below. At the ten foot mark, Evan let go of the rope, and rolled as he hit the ground. Once he got his composure, he surveyed the battlefield, which was littered with Rebellion soldier bodies and vehicular bodies of AT-STs, TIE maulers and what looked like the Rebel T2-Bs.

Evan dashed forward, ending up right behind a TIE mauler. Without thinking, he jumped on the back of the mauler as it rolled quickly along. When Evan risked a look ahead of the mauler to see what was ahead, he saw a massive battle taking place between 10 AT-STs, 30 TIE maulers, two AT-ATs, what looked like fifty Rebel soldiers and twenty T2-Bs. Evan jumped off of the mauler just before it entered the firing zone which, if he had jumped off two seconds later, he would have been killed, as the mauler exploded from incoming T2-B fire.

Sachine turned back around to look at the AT-AT, and saw the remaining storm troopers running towards him, along with several other squads of troops. As he stared at them, laser fire flew past him and Evan whirled around to see four Rebel soldiers running at him, their blaster pistols raised. Evan raised his E-11, crouched and fired at the incoming soldiers. His first two shots barely flew past the soldiers before one of their shots hit Evan in the foot, causing him to fall backwards crying out. He sat up a little, aiming carefully, and fired, hitting three out of the four soldiers. The last remaining soldier jumped backwards, grabbing one of his fallen comrades' pistol, now wielding two. Evan rolled around, towards cover of a group of small rocks and waited for the backup.

XF-129 was the first to arrive, crouching next to Evan laying behind the rock, and setting out covering fire for his men to advance forward to kill the Rebel. "Were you hit?" he asked when his men stopped to fire.

Evan grunted, and sat up. "Yeah, in the foot, but I'll be fine. It barely penetrated the armor." Sachine stared at the burned hole in his armor, his black undersuit visible.

"Understood. Can you stand, Corporal?" XF-129 grabbed Evan's hand, and pulled him up. He took a step forward towards XF-129, verifying his ability to walk. "Very good. Let's move out, Corporal." Evan nodded and followed XF-129 to the storm troopers, who had joined the Empire winning onslaught in the plain ahead of them. One of the AT-ATs lay on it's side, destroyed, the other was just starting to take heavy fire from the T2-Bs, but the AT-STs and TIE maulers had begun to destroy them one by one until the T2-Bs fell back to their base.

The Rebel soldiers, unable to retreat, charged at the storm troopers, firing . The TIE maulers broke off from the T2-B pursuit to assist the storm troopers from the charging twenty soldiers. Ten TIE maulers rolled at the soldiers, but instead of stopping to fire, they kept rolling, crushing the soldiers in a mix of blood and guts. Evan looked away quickly. XF-129 stepped forward to speak to the troops. "Alright men, with the Rebels retreating back to their base, our job is to wait for the vehicles to destroy the shield generator, and then we shall place our targeting beacons for the Star Destroyers to fire upon. General Ivohan's shuttle will be landing any moment now to monitor the battle from the planet itself."

Evan glanced up to the sky as a Lambda shuttle appeared over the hills of Corellia. Hovering for a moment, as if to wonder what to do, the shuttle landed in front of the storm troopers, and General Ivohan stepped out. "Good work troops. I'll be staying here to give orders from the ship and to keep you all as safe as possible. Good luck and move out!" General Ivohan saluted, turned back and headed back into the shuttle.

Sachine leaned the rifle against his chest and ran forward towards the new battle breaking out between the Imperial and Rebellion vehicles and infantry. "Move it, move it!" SF-842 yelled, who seemed to come out of nowhere. He may have been in the shuttle with Ivohan and got off after they had started moving. Charging now, Evan's breath came in short gasps as his feet carried him towards the battle. From what he could see, the AT-ATs were firing, but still moving forward to the shield generator. Maybe he would survive this battle after all!

Evan and the others, now ahead of the furthest back AT-AT, ran into trouble every three yards from Rebel troops. At first, it was only three soldiers per encounter, but once they passed up a fallen AT-ST, their numbers grew from three to ten per spotting. Every time a Rebel was spotted, whoever encountered him or her first would stop and fire, which would then have the rest of the troops join in.

XF-129, now beginning to pant heavily, spotted a Rebel party of four soldiers, and stopped to fire. His bolts hit two of the three in the face, but one of the soldiers, fixtated on revenge, aimed his sights on XF-129 and fired, the bolt crashing into his chest, killing him instantly. SF-842 fired at the remaining two soldiers, killing them easily.

As the troops neared the shield of the base, their numbers had dwindled from 300 to 62. Taking cover, the troops hid behind fallen AT-STs and a single fallen AT-AT. Evan kept his eyes fixed on the shield, his fears swelling up inside him. With a sudden large explosion to the south of their position, the shield suddenly fell. "PLACE YOUR BEACONS; MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" SF-842 commanded as the storm troopers jumped out from behind their cover to be met with laser fire from the base. At first, Evan thought he would die here, but then the AT-STs and TIE maulers moved forward, clearing a path for the troops.

Evan, his targetting beacon on his belt, charged up the small hill, and stopped to duck from an incoming missile from an MTPL. Three AT-STs ran forward, shooting the MPTL to bits. When Evan turned around, the other storm troopers were charging up as well, with SF-842 right behind Evan. "Move it, Corporal!"

Corporal Evan Sachine dashed forward, diving to dodge another missile, this time from a rocket launcher held by a Rebel soldier. Evan shot him quickly, and placed the targetting beacon on one of the Rebel mining facilities. When he turned around to look at the other storm troopers, he saw three fall to a T2-B. Running forward at the bodies, he snatched up two of the three beacons they held, and ran back into the base. Once he passed the mining facility, he was thrown into the air by an explosion; the Star Destroyers had destroyed the facility. Landing hard on his side, Evan jumped up and limped quickly to the Rebel barracks. He set the targetting beacon and tossed it up and over the wall of the barracks and ran on.

SF-842, setting his beacon on the Rebel Heavy Vehicle factory, witnessed twelve storm troopers run into a second Heavy Vehicle factory, and a moment later, an MPTL emerged from the factory, blood and meshes of white on its wheels. SF-842 ran around the back of the first HV factory, throwing himself against the second. Grabbing his own second targetting beacon, and began to set it. As he made the final preparations to complete the beacons function, missiles from a nearby MPTL smashed into him, destroying the beacon, part of the HV factory, and blew SF-842 into small bits.

Evan Sachine, with his last beacon, ran at a Light Vehicle factory, which had just deployed two more T2-Bs. Setting the targetting beacon, one of the T2-Bs spotted him and hovered close to his position, but it was to late. The beacon was placed and set. Evan, desperate to survive, dived backwards, rolling up and running to the now destroyed barracks to hide in the rubble. The T2-B, which was now on his toes, fired its main cannon, missing Sachine by mere inches. A second later, a loud explosion rocked the entire hill upon which he sat on as the Star Destroyer fleet destroyed the LV factory.

Evan, now certain that he was going to live, sat in the rubble of the barracks as an AT-ST destroyed the T2-B that had stalked him. When Sachine risked a look out of the rubble, he saw two AT-ATs now firing on the last HV factory. An MPTL emerged, and the maulers tore it apart. When Evan stood up to emerge from the rubble, he heard footsteps behind him. Evan whirled around, but nothing was there. _Just my imagination..._

"ATTACK!" A yell from the trees in front of him made him jump as fifteen Rebel soldiers emerged, firing their blasters. Evan paniced, and fired wildly while falling back. One shot killed a rocket wielding Rebel, but the remaining fourteen Rebels hit him with their bolts. When the shots knocked into Evan's armor near the abdomen, he cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, the burning in his gut subsiding to a peaceful darkness.


	7. Chapter 7: War Hero?

High Admiral Sian Labrith sat in his quarters, rubbing the triggers that would fire the powerful anti-fighter laser cannon that, if hit correctly would destroy a shielded X-wing in one hit. Staring out of the starboard side of _Velocity_, his eyes were glued to the pillows of smoke rising from Corellia. "The battle must be intense," he said out loud. "Maybe we won." Suddenly, green lasers were shooting past _Velocity_ down on the planet. "Theres another targetting beacon. That's the fourth one so far. I guess their base is a lot bigger than we realized." Sian knew his storm troopers would be dead, including Evan. His heart was telling him over and over that he had murdered all of his storm troopers on board the ship himself, when he condemned them to death on Corellia.

"High Admiral Sian, this is General Ivohan, do you copy?" a voice from the COM near him said.

"You're coming through General, whats the situation down there?"

"We've won the battle, but we have taken heavy loses. Out of the three-hundred storm troopers you sent to us, three have survived. From the twenty-one AT-STs you sent, four survived. Out of all AT-ATs, six survived. Ten TIE maulers survived the battle as well."

"What are the designations of those three storm troopers," he asked, hoping to hear Corporal Evan Sachine's designation of ST-927.

"RF-163, Lieutenant, SR-2941, Major, and ST-9275, Private." Sian's heart sunk at the very close numbers of Evan and Private ST-9275.

"I see," he began, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Any MIA?"

"Yes sir. Commander SF-842, the leader of the storm troopers is MIA and was last spotted by RF-163 near a Heavy Vehicle factory. He is the only MIA reported. All dead have been accounted for. No one was just injured."

Sian nearly began to cry, but regained his composure. "What of ST-927, Corporal Sachine?"

"Corporal Evan Sachine was found near the rubble of the barracks, killed to blaster shots to the abdomen," Ivohan replied after a slight ruffle of papers.

"I see. Was his combat recording on?"

"Yes sir, all of the storm troopers recorded the battle. Would you like to see Corporal Sachine's?"

Sian grinned slightly. "Yes, if you will please send that to _The Velocity_, I will be most grateful."

"As you wish Admiral. His helmet will be sent to yo-"

"No." Sian interrupted. "Send his whole body. I want to see his face one last time. He was a dear friend of mine."

There was a long pause over the COM. "As you wish Admiral. His body will be sent to you ASAP, along with his helmet. His armor is still good and may be used again, so that will be off and he will be in his under garments. Is that OK?"

"No, have him dressed in his under suit. I would rather not see a good friend half naked, General." The under suit was the black fabric between the armor and body so the soldier did not have to feel the armor against their skin.

"Understood. Corporal Evan Sachine will be transported ASAP. General Ivohan out."

Sian dropped the COM transmitter and buried his face in his hands, the tears of loss rushing out like dual waterfalls after a long rain. He sat there and cried for a long time, until Admiral Anthony Arden was standing outside of the door.

"Sian, it's Admiral Arden. May I come in?" he requested.

Sian jerked his head up from his hands, wiping them on his pant legs, and then wiping the tears from his eyes. "Yes, come on in."

As Arden walked into the room, Sian noticed that Arden's eyes were darker than usual. He hadn't slept at all. "Sian, as you probably know, we've won. I have come to ask permission to take a short leave of absense to look for the family."

Sian smiled, and stood up from the chair. "Of course my old friend. Everyone is on for a leave of absense; I promised that just last night after our space victory."

Arden returned the smile and, although tired, he seemed full of energy. "Thank you sir." Arden turned for the door.

"Wait one moment. Would you get some sleep before you go and do anything on the planet?"

Arden stopped and turned his head. "Is that an order, sir?"

Sian couldn't help but smile. "It's a recommendation, Admiral."

"I'll consider it sir. Goodbye and thank you." Arden opened the door, took one last look back and left. Sian returned to his seat near the laser cannon and began drifting in and out of reality. At one point, he began to think of the cycle that the space vehicle of the galaxy had.

"It's an endless cycle really when you have bombers in a battle," he said to himself. "Bombers destroy capital ships, fighters destroy bombers, corvettes destroy fighters, frigates destroy corvettes, capital ships destroy frigates, bombers destroy capital ships." He paused. "But then again, capital ships destroy other capital ships, I guess."

A little over an hour passed before any contact to Sian was made. It was Admiral Kahn of _The Tyranny _ended up contacting him "High Admiral Sian, this is Admiral Kahn here to inform you that the fleet is leaving for their promised one week vacation. We shall see you in one week."

"Understood Admiral. Have a nice vacation. Stay safe and drop off your Star Destroyers at Courscant. I'll have some added goodies for you all when you get back."

"Thank you High Admiral Sian. Goodbye sir," Kahn said. Sian returned to his losing of sanity.

After two hours of no contact to Sian, he realized that he needed to leave the room before he went insane. As he stood up, a voice from the COM spoke, saying, "High Admiral Sian, General Ivohan is here to speak with you in the medical room."

"Understood. I'll be there in a few minutes," he responded, picking up his cap and jogged out the door. Once out of the room, Sian broke into a full sprint to the medical bay. He wanted to see his friend right now, even if he was dead.

"Admiral, please slow down!" General Ivohan pleaded as Sian neared the medical bay. Sian complied with the order and slowed to a jog. Ivohan flashed a look of worry as he went back inside the medical bay. Sian was right behind him.

Lying on the table in the middle of room was Corporal Evan Sachine, designation ST-927. Once Sian saw him, he nearly broke down, but due to the other people around him, he did not. Instead, he shuddered and approached his dead friend, whom he had shared a friendly embrace with less than twenty hours ago. True to word, there were burns in his under suit on the abdomen where the bolts had hit him. There was also a small hole on his right foot, near the big toe. His helmet lay to his left on a small table.

"I took the time to view his combat recording myself on the way up from the planet. After you view it, I'm sure you will be very proud of him, sir." Ivohan stated.

Sian took this into consideration as he looked down on Evan's young twenty-two face. He looked very peaceful like this, but Sian couldn't help but to shed an unnoticeable tear that fell onto Evan's forehead. His short pale blonde hair, usually spiked carefully was now flat. He couldn't help but smile a little when he thought, _My, my Evan. You've got some hat hair._ After studying his face, Sian shifted his attention to the helmet.

The white helmet of a storm trooper always gave Sian the creeps, even after his joining of the Empire after the occupation of his planet Bonandan, situated on the outer rim. Lifting it up, he stared into the black eyes of the helmet. After a few moments of staring at these eyes, he located the combat recording.

The recording wasn't very long; only about thirty mintues long. Sian couldn't help but laugh when Evan jumped on the back of the TIE mauler and smiled when he was wise enough to jump off before it entered a battle that would have killed him earlier on. Sian thought he was witnessing his death when he looked back at the other storm troopers coming from the AT-ATs and four Rebel soldiers had ambushed him as he was off guard. Luckily for himself, Evan was a good shot and had very quick reflexes. One of the soldiers shot him in the foot, and that, Sian concluded was what made the hole in his under suit on the foot.

Again, Sian thought he was witnessing his death when they were running towards the base and were continuously ambushed by rising numbers of Rebel soldiers, but everyone seemed to be dying around him save for Evan himself. Sian was surprised to find that Evan was the one who had made the first targetting beacon active, but was also frightened when he was thrown into the air from the force of the blast after picking up two other beacons. When he saw that Evan was also the one who activated the second targetting beacon, Sian was astounded. Then a third large explosion was heard as another troop set up a targetting beacon.

Sian then witnessed Evan's set up of the fourth targetting beacon, which almost made him faint. Then he saw Evan running towards the burning rubble of the barracks as a massive laser went past him. Evan yelled loudly, which made Sian shudder.. He had never heard Evan yell in such terror. As he watched Evan dive into the rubble, witness the destruction of the T2-B following him and then witnessing the destruction of another Heavy Vehicle factory by the Imperial Army, Sian began to wonder how the hell he had died. Then he heard a loud yell, which sounded like attack, and Evan turned to see fifteen Rebel soldiers jumping out of the forest to attack. One shot killed a soldier wielding a rocket launcher, and then the others hit him, making a loud smack against his army as Evan whirled around to fall to the ground, his cries of pain ceasing.

Sian began to cry, no longer caring of what the others thought of him doing so, whether it was of being a softie or of being weak. He cried and cried as he fell to his knees, dropping the helmet and burying his face once more in his hands. Evan had almost lived, and if he hadn't of been in that unfortunate spot at that unfortunate time, he would be alive right now.

As General Ivohan came over to comfort him, Sian suddenly realized something: Corporal Evan Sachine, designation ST-927, was a War Hero.


	8. Chapter 8: Waking up

**Author's note: I was listening to System of a Down and other music while writing this, so if you see any errors that I did not, please let me know.**

"Admiral Sian, can you hear me," a voice called out to him from the darkness. "Admiral Sian, please wake up!"

"I'm trying, whoever you are," he said aloud, but he had a feeling that he didn't actually say anything. Sian, determined to defeat the darkness around him, yelled as loudly as he possibly could; but that wasn't even why he had yelled. Corporal Sachine's death began to play in front of him like a movie on a huge projection screen the size of Ossus' moon, Dxun.

"Admiral, open your eyes sir!" Suddenly, his entire environment shook and almost immediately, Sian opened his eyes and stared into the face of General Ivohan.

"Oh thank the stars, Admiral. We thought we may have lost you to shock," Ivohan told him as Sian began to sit up. Someone put a hand on his bare chest and put him back down. Sian looked up to see Arden, who probably hadn't even left yet.

Momentarily ignoring Arden, Sian asked, "Shock? What do you mean? What happened?"

"You fainted soon after you watched ST-927's battle recording, sir. You've been in the infirmary for seven hours, and you haven't made a sound until a few moments ago whenever I was informed that you were talking in your sleep." Ivohan paused for a moment to scratch his head. "I came here as soon as I could, and when I got here, we all tried to wake you up until you yelled, and I shook you," he explained as Arden moved to his side, his eyes staring at Sian.

Sian turned his attention to Arden. "So, Admiral, you found your family I hope?"

"No," he stated, suddenly glaring. "Apparantly they left after Corellia fell to the Rebels, no thanks to you and your fleet.

It was Sian's turn to glare. "Excuse me? We tried our absolute best to hold that planet, and it ended up costing me an Admiral." Sian paused for a second to catch his breath. "THEN, whenever we retook the planet so we could find your damn family, I lost a dear friend and several other men."

"So," Sian started, beginning to raise onto his elbows, "don't you ever again blame me or my fleet, or my men for the damn fact that your family decided to leave after the damn Rebels took over. If you do, I will personally knock you out of my fleet and end your life." After Sian said that, he wished he hadn't. He didn't mean it; he must've been drugged.

"I see. So that's how you feel about my search. As you wish _High Admiral_," he said and stormed out of the infirmary.

"Sith spit," Sian yelled and fell back onto the bed.

**Yeah, this was an extremely short chapter, but then again... it's not like anyone's even reading this damn story. It seems that people are only interested in stories that involve major characters, such as Luke Skywalkers and Obi-Wan Kenobi. And if you are reading this, then PLEASE leave a review so I can continue this for the people that are. I can't stress that enough. **


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